tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post2167805290666252469..comments2024-03-27T09:14:27.496+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Can the Tories Detoxify?Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-18237655237055734612017-10-12T21:49:53.060+01:002017-10-12T21:49:53.060+01:00All in all, I agree with much of your post. But pl...All in all, I agree with much of your post. But please do speak to someone from Scotland about Ruth Davidson; she's not 'all that', however much she may be painted as such south of the Tweed. The lesson that one must move with the times in order to shape them most certainly is lost on her. Recall, if you can, May's maiden speech as Prime Minister. So must hot air wasted on claims of a 'one nation approach', instantly negated by dint of her actions in office. Davidson is cut in the same vein as that speech, her inextricable unwillingness to move with the times simply hasn't been revealed to greater Englandshire as yet; her sophistry and background as a lesbian council house gal has been taken at face value. Note that a great deal of the present 'recrudescence' of the Scottish Tories has been down to her courting the unsavoury sectarian 'no surrender' vote and as standing as the representative of the 'vote Ruth Davidson for a strong no surrendering Ruth Davidson Party', rather than as a liberal and forward thinking, yet admitted, Conservative. Most folk up here probably wouldn't be able to identify her as one of the hated Tories and it's plain that she garners a lot of support in spite of her party affiliation, rather than because of it.<br /><br />Other than that passing reference, which prompted this comment, I have to agree with the majority of your analysis; it's certainly far better than that which is offered by the overwhelming majority of the paid commentariat. In essence: Long time reader, first time commenter - pushed over the edge by one two many positive references to Davidson! Smokeymon Greenhttp://smoke-em420.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-79154574225781224912017-10-12T11:31:54.238+01:002017-10-12T11:31:54.238+01:00The 1951-64 period saw two historic ironies that g...The 1951-64 period saw two historic ironies that go a long way to explain the Tories success during the period. <br /><br />The first was that the fledgling welfare state turned out to disproportionately benefit the middle classes, notably in the areas of health and education. The second was that the Tories were better able to oversee the retreat from empire and the first moves towards the EEC, which commanded widespread support in the political centre. This historic role reflected their accumulated political capital.<br /><br />Of course these two tendencies contained inherent contradictions. The expansion of the public sector and the shift of the economy towards services targeting developed markets would both create a growing professional class that gradually swung towards Labour, at a time when the welfare state's delayed focus on housing in the 60s reinforced Labour's working class base.<br /><br />We've probably reached a similar inflexion point in that the younger generation see their material interests better aligned with Labour (as you note), but another element in the mix is that the Tories are reducing their "historic role" to a regressive interpretation of Brexit that cannot command widespread support. I think it's the combination of the two that is going to prove fatal.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-60978011717146709012017-10-12T10:44:14.719+01:002017-10-12T10:44:14.719+01:00A lot of the older voters will be the same individ...A lot of the older voters will be the same individuals who voted tory in the post war era.<br />Perhaps the inability to adjust is more to do with the influence of various barking mad think tanks with money to spend. "Who pays the piper" and all that.johnny conspiranoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16999152579310845736noreply@blogger.com